“5 at 5” Football Edition Installment #9, Original Analysis: Freeze’s Five Biggest Wins

EDITOR’S NOTE: Counting down to the first week of Ole Miss football practice the week of August 15, HottyToddy.com’s own Collin Brister, former sports editor of the Daily Mississippian, will bring you exclusive “5 at 5” analyses of either A) the opponents Ole Miss will be facing this season or B) some background on Ole Miss’ players at each position. It’s being called “5 at 5” because each original piece will give you 5 key things to know, and we will post these stories at 5 p.m. every Monday-Friday.

NUMBER 1:

1. MSU 2012-There’s an argument that this win could be lower, but Ole Miss’ program is not at the level that it is without this win. The Rebels at one point during the 2012 season were 5-3, but dropped three straight games to Georgia, Vanderbilt and LSU and had to beat Mississippi State to get to their first bowl game since 2009. Ole Miss started out slowly that night, but once Ole Miss got it together, they dominated the Bulldogs. While Ole Miss fans rushed the field that night for their first win over Mississippi State in three years and the Rebels bowl eligibility, but the impact of that win was felt two-and-a-half months later when the Rebels signed their highest ranked recruiting class in school history.

courtesy: Ole Miss Sports

NUMBER 2:

2. Alabama 2014-This is the win that elevated the Rebels from a steady SEC program to an SEC West contender. With College Gameday in The Grove for the first time in school history, Ole Miss knocked off the Crimson Tide 23-17. The Rebels fell behind 14-3 right before halftime on an Alabama scoop-and-score after the officials blew an obvious facemask call. Instead of laying down, Ole Miss responded with 20 second half points, garnering the Rebels first victory over the Crimson Tide since 2003.

courtesy Christopher Little

NUMBER 3:

3. Alabama 2015-When the Rebels went to Tuscaloosa last season they were looking for their first win in Bryant-Denny stadium since the 80’s. The Rebels donned the same uniform that the last Rebel team to win in Tuscaloosa wore, and after 60 minutes the Rebels had the same result as that team. This was the night that Ole Miss fans were first introduced to how lethal Chad Kelly was in the offense. Kelly threw for three touchdowns that night, and the defense held on at the end as Ole Miss beat Alabama in back-to-back years

courtesy Ole Miss Sports

NUMBER 4:

4. LSU 2013-This was the first win of significance from a national perspective under Freeze. The Rebels were injured and beat up, playing without the likes of Senquez Golson, Jeff Scott and Robert Nkemdiche and Serderius Bryant yet still found a way to fend off the Tigers. The Rebels found themselves tied with LSU late in the contest when quarterback Bo Wallace led one of the biggest drives in his career setting up Andrew Ritter to knock home a game-winning field goal to give Ole Miss their first Magnolia Bowl win since 2009.

courtesy: Southeastern Conference

NUMBER 5:

5. Mississippi State-2015-The Rebels went to Starkville last November looking to knock off Mississippi State in Starkville for the first time since 2003. The winner of last year’s Egg Bowl was likely heading to the Sugar Bowl, and Ole Miss was going to have a task knocking off the Bulldogs on Dak Prescott’s senior night, or so we thought. The Rebels jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead, before putting just shutting the Bulldogs down in the second half. The Rebels would go on to the Sugar Bowl to end the season where they knocked off Oklahoma State.

courtesy KingVenator

View Yesterday’s “5 at 5” here

Collin Brister is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at collin.brister@hottytoddy.com.

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